Chelsea the Grouch and Other Managerial Lessons

I remember sitting at my desk in corporate America and thinking, “I refuse to let them convince me that my emotional investment in this business is a flaw.” In the way many children learn lessons later in life, I now know they were right.

I recently took a leadership workshop that preached that we need to remove our investment in other people’s space. What is your business vs. “their” business. As an analyst and even more so as a manager, this is my biggest challenge. A psychologist once asked me why I thought it was a defect that I felt more deeply. Well, it’s partially a defect because it’s not my business how many people bought turkey roasters in 2012. It’s not my business as a manager to make decisions for the shining stars that I manage or may eventually manage. It’s not my space as a friend to force judgments or opinions but simply to hold my life partner’s spaces. I’m starting to understand this now.

My mother is an amazing leader professionally, but the relationship I respect the most that she managed is her relationship with me. I used to get incredibly frustrated with my mom for not offering me her opinions on grandiose plans of mine. Shudder…flashback to 15-24 year old Chelsea… “Why the hell won’t you tell me what to do?!?!” Her response? “because I know you will make the right decision. You always do.” How did she KNOW? She didn’t…but she thrives off the fact that I would learn from my own decisions and not her own opinion or what she wanted. The best gift my mother gave me was to let me follow my own path and to hold that path in a loving and supportive manner. These are the qualities of a true leader. Thanks for not micro-managing, mama.

As the workforce manager that actually pays the bills, my mom says, “I grow leaders. If this is what you aspire to be, then I will help you get there.” In my current career I have the beautiful, yellow brick road opportunity to bring this motto to life. The teachers and students that surround me all have ambitious goals. They will find their path without my opinions, judgments or beliefs. My consistent goal as a manager is to hold their space in silence, make tough umbrella decisions when needed and if this is where you aspire to be, then I will help you get there.